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DEN89FA152

1989-07-02 · ANGEL FIRE, New Mexico, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport AXX

N20CF has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 170B), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, HIS PREMATURE ROTATION FOR TAKEOFF AND SUBSEQUENT FAILURE TO OBTAIN OR MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT SPEED TO CLIMB, AND HIS FAILURE TO ABORT THE TAKEOFF (WHILE THERE WAS SUFFICIENT RWY REMAINING). CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: THE PILOT ALLOWED THE AIRCRAFT GROSS WEIGHT TO EXCEED THE MAXIMUM LIMIT, HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, UPHILL RUNWAY GRADIENT, DOWNDRAFT, TURBULENCE, AND TREES.

Factual narrative

THE PLT AND 3 PAX BOARDED THE ACFT AT ANGEL FIRE, NM (ELEV 8382 FT MSL) TO RETURN TO PHOENIX, AZ. DENSITY ALT WAS APRX 11,582 FT MSL. THE ACFT, WHICH HAD JUST BEEN SERVICED, HAD 54 GAL OF FUEL ON BOARD AND WAS APRX 30 LBS OVER ITS MAX GROSS WEIGHT LIMIT. THE PLT ELECTED TO TAKE OFF ON RWY 17 (8900 FT X 75 FT, 0.643% UPHILL GRADIENT). HE ROTATED 3 TIMES BEFORE THE ACFT FINALLY LIFTED OFF NEAR THE DEPARTURE END. NUMEROUS WITNESSES OBSERVED THE ACFT FLYING LOW THROUGH THE VALLEY TOWARDS GRADUALLY RISING TERRAIN. IT FINALLY STRUCK TREES AND CRASHED APRX 5 MI FROM THE ARPT AT AN ELEV OF 8813 FT MSL. ONE PAX WAS FATALLY INJURED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO EVACUATE THE BURNING ACFT. PERFORMANCE CHARTS INDICATED THE ACFT WAS CAPABLE OF TAKING OFF UNDER THE PREVAILING CONDITIONS. THE PLT LATER REPORTED THAT TURBULENCE AND DOWNDRAFTS DEGRADED THE ACFT'S CLIMB PERFORMANCE. HE ALSO INDICATED THE ACFT WAS ON THE VERGE OF STALLING THROUGHOUT THE SHORT FLT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_DEN89FA152.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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